IRVING, Texas — Juniors Wally Thayne and Zach Fuchs have been named Big 12 No. 1 Doubles Position Co-Champions for the 2023-24 season, the conference announced Thursday afternoon.
The honor is assessed by the total number of wins a duo has at a given position, and the pair’s three conference victories at No. 1 doubles contributed to a five-way tie with Baylor’s Tadeas Paroulek/Zsombor Velcz, Oklahoma’s Baptiste Anselmo/Alex Martinez, Oklahoma State’s Isaac Becroft/Tyler Zink and Texas’s Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab.
Ranked No. 82 in the May 2 ITA doubles rankings, Thayne and Fuchs’ three conference wins came against two opponents ranked in the top 55, including a 6-2 win over then-No. 53 Spizzirri and Woldeab (No. 4 Texas) on March 28. The Texas duo has since surged to a No. 26 national ranking after a Big 12 Championship final round appearance.
Thayne and Fuchs also defeated Texas Tech’s No. 40 Piotr Pawlak and Sebastian Abboud 7-6 (8) to clinch the doubles point for BYU’s April 13 regular season finale in addition to a 6-4 win over Jack Pinnington and Pedro Vives (No. 3 TCU) on April 4.
Under the guidance of first-year head coach Zack Warren, the pair ranked as high as No. 71 in the ITA doubles rankings on April 16 and finished with a team-high doubles winning percentage (.625) at 10-6.
On the singles side, Thayne and Fuchs competed at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles throughout the season. Thayne totaled 14 victories with Fuchs at 10.
Thursday’s honor caps a 2023-24 campaign for the juniors that also includes qualifying for last fall’s ITA National Fall Championships. There, both became the first Cougars to advance to the Sweet 16 in the event since 2010.